The Expiration Date
by UnbrokenSilences
Summary: Sure, they're unique. They've lasted longer than any other freak out there. But everything has an ending and maybe their ending is coming fast. Who cares about saving the world when you can't save yourself? Fax. Alternative plot to TAE. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This begins at the beginning. So basically none of the books happened. However, some of the abilities that the Flock members have which cropped up during the later books are still fair game.**

**This story starts off sounding like ****TAE**** but it's definitely different. Like...expect more Fax. :D**

**Btw, expect short chapters. But hopefully there will be a lot of them.**

**Note: Max and the Flock do not yet know about the whole expiration date thing.**

0

My name is Maximum Ride.

I guess the first thing you should know about me is that I'm...not human. Okay, maybe I'm 98% human.

The other 2%?

Well, aren't you in for a treat.

I'm part bird. And the best part is that..._I'm not alone._

In fact, I live with five other science projects. Fang. Iggy. Nudge. Gazzy. Angel. Together, we are the Flock.

We're not related-well, Gazzy and Angel are, but the rest of us aren't. And maybe if we had regular lives we'd never even, like, _look_ at each other. I mean, personality-wise, we're all pre-etty different. We've got Fang, the stoic man of few words; Iggy, the hilarious pyromaniac; Nudge, the sweet motormouth; Gazzy, Iggy's partner in crime; and Angel, Gazzy's younger sister and my baby. Oh, and me. The leader. Well, I mean, _someone's_ got to do the dirty work, right?

We all live together in a house shaped like an "E" that hangs over the side of some mountains in Colorado. It's a nice place, I guess. But I mean, things are tight. By 'things', I mean like, we kinda live by a meal-to-meal basis, and other stuff-clothes, toys, whatever-are basically just snatched up when an opportunity presents itself.

All because of stupid Jeb. But I'll get into that later.

**A/N: Short prologue, so Imma post chapter 1 as well. R&R! (As in, the amount of reviews I get is directly related to how often I update ;D).**


	2. Chapter 2

1

I'm an early bird (haha, get it?) so it wasn't unusual for me to wake up before everyone else that one Saturday morning. Trust me-after taking care of five other people for one whole day, a girl starts to savor those rare moments of solitude. Wow, look at me getting all poetic.

Sometimes I catch the sunrise, and it's pretty and all, but mainly I love the mornings because I like to go on long, _long_ flights by myself. The one thing in this world that I love more than the Flock is flying. God knows I've spent enough of my life cooped up in cages.

That morning, though, I wasn't the only one awake.

"Hey."

I was just about to head out the front door when _he_ materialized out of _nowhere_. Like, you think that's just an expression and all, but we've all got some funky abilities, and one of his is being able to blend into his surroundings if he just keeps still. And Fang's not known for being a ball of hyperactivity, so the whole motionless thing comes easy for him.

"Jeez, Fang, what're you doing trying to sneak up on me?" I adopted a defensive tone to hide the fact that I really was startled. Fang can catch me off guard like no one else.

Judging by the slight smirk on his face he knew I was freaked out. "Just trying to say hi. You're up early."

"I'm _always_ up early."

"To do what? Cook?"

We both snorted at this. Me + kitchen = disaster.

"For real though. Where are you going?" He said seriously.

"Out..." For some reason, I felt reluctant to tell him that I was going out for a flight. Then again, if anyone was gonna cut into my private time, it would be Fang. "I always go out to fly a bit before everyone else gets up."

"Mind if I join you?"

I smiled in spite of myself. "Sure." I wouldn't mind the companionship; plus, considering how little Fang said, I doubted we'd be doing much talking anyways, which is what I wanted.

We launched ourselves off the side of the E-house (the front porch was literally _on the side of the cliff_-like, normal people would probably freak out because when you look down it's like an endless abyss, but it's not like _we're_ afraid of heights) and snapped out our wings. A nice little updraft was blowing and I felt myself effortlessly being carried upwards by extending my wings to their full length. Fang, soaring a wing's length away from me, gave me a legitimate grin that conveyed all the euphoria I felt at the moment. _Freedom!_

I pulled myself out of the updraft, though, and I flapped my wings to gain more altitude. "You better get out of the way!" I shouted down.

A light of understanding appeared into Fang's eyes and he moved aside. I took a deep breath and then tucked my wings in.

_Whoooooooosh!_ I was free-falling, and soon Fang was nothing more than a little black blob against the pink sky. I let out a laugh which was soon lost in the air above me. _This_ was living. Nothing but me and my wings and the crisp morning air.

Suddenly, though, something rammed into me and I lost my breath. "Oof!" I rolled over in midair and snapped open my wings again, flapping rapidly to regain control and automatically shifting into a fighting stance. But it was only Fang, black hair windswept and eyes sparkling with glee.

"Sorry, didn't see you there," he quipped. I responded by trying to punch him but he quickly ducked out of the way.

"I'm starting to regret inviting you along..." I began and then launched a roundhouse kick at his head so quickly I swear I got air blisters. But Fang's just about as fast as I am and probably a tad bit stronger, so it wasn't surprising that he was able to neatly block my assault and knife my thigh in response. I grabbed the hand that had hit me and used it to pull him closer so that I could slam him in the chest with my elbow.

The breath whooshed out of him and he narrowed his eyes. "Now you're just asking for it."

I arched an eyebrow and did that awesome Bruce Li hand beckoning thing that just screams "BRING IT SO I CAN KICK YOUR ASS" and then a blur rushed towards me and I found myself fighting for my life. Well, not really. Fang and I have been sparring since we could walk (or should I say, _fly_), and we knew each other's moves so well that we could pretty much predict how the entire fight was going to play out, but since we were equally matched, it was never _not_ fun to get rough and physical. Yeah, yeah, so maybe he dislocated my shoulder once, and maybe I broke his nose a couple of times, but one weird perk of being a bird-kid is that you heal extra fast. Within two days of breaking his nose the first time, Fang was ready for a rematch, and _that_ did not go down well.

After twenty minutes or so of mid-air combat (you know you wish you could even have twenty minutes of _combat_) we were both sporting soon-to-be bruises and severely mussed hair but we were grinning like idiots. Nothing like a little brawling to make your day.

"Ready to go back?" I said reluctantly. I usually only stayed out for half an hour or so; by that time, most of the kids were up.

"We still have some time," Fang replied, which led me to wonder if he knew my routine. Before I could question him, though, he had sped off in the opposite direction and I basically had no choice but to follow him. I spotted him disappearing into a little opening on the side of a cliff and curiously I coasted to a stop on his heels.

It was actually not so _little_ once we were inside it-it was more of a _cave_. A nice, roomy _cave_. It wasn't even one of those stereotypical dark and damp caves-it was comfortable and cozy. Perfect for a hideaway.

"You've come here before?" I queried, glancing at one of Fang's sweatshirts and a few pillows from the E house lying on the ground.

"Yeah. You know, to clear my head."

_Like flying clears mine_, I thought, but I knew he understood. "So...what do you do in here? When do you even come here?"

Fang shrugged noncommittally, though I detected tension in the stiffness of his jaw. "Just haven't been sleeping well lately."

"You come here to sleep?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know why you can't sleep well? Are you having bad dreams?"

An unidentifiable emotion flickered in his onyx eyes. "Don't we always have bad dreams, Max?"

True. Scarcely a night goes by where I _don't_ have a nightmare concerning the abominable School. Yeah. Life's _great_, I'm telling you.

"Worse than before?"

Fang shifted uncomfortably and then let out a loud sigh. "God, Max, if only you knew."

I stepped closer and put a hand on his shoulder. "You know you can trust me with everything, Fang." I levelly stared into his eyes until finally he yielded.

"This is gonna sound crazy," he muttered. "Okay. I've been having this same dream over and over again..."

_Me too!_ I wanted to shout. But because I'm just so generous and tactful, I let him finish.

"It always starts out in the School. All of us are in cages." We both winced at the c-word. "And like...not as we were before we escaped. All of us _now_. Then a whitecoat comes by and she's wheeling a cart of food, and it's always the same woman and the same cart. And she's handing us trays of food, right? And on _my_ tray, there's a crumpled napkin, and when I open up the napkin, I see..."

He paused and an odd expression crossed his face.

"Fang?" I softly said, prodding him to go on.

"I see the words... 'You will be the last.'"

Silence hung between us. "Um..." His dream didn't sound nearly as frightening as the one _I_ kept on having. "How is that...bad?"

"Don't you think that sounds _bad_?" Fang snapped, pushing my hand off his shoulder. "It's like...I will be the last. That sounds _ominous_."

"The last of what, though?" I said, chewing on a strand of my dirty blond hair. "Does anything happen after you open your napkin?"

"That's when I wake up," he answered wearily. "Nothing more ever happens. And I've been unable to sleep these past few days because I'm just constantly thinking about what the hell that message means."

"Is it a premonition?" I thoughtfully mused. "Maybe you're seeing the future."

Fang let out a snort of derision. "Yeah. Well, no rat meat, right?"

He was referring to how at sometimes when we were _really_ hungry and _really_ out of food, we'd obey the call of the wild and go hunt some rats and rabbits that lived near our turf. Fun stuff.

The fact that he was being sarcastic clued me into how he really was freaked out though. And I'll admit-maybe the message didn't mean much to me, but if he really was seeing the future...was my family in danger? Were we meant to wind up in cages again?

"I've been having a recurring dream, too-" I began, but my raptor senses picked up on a faint commotion coming from the general direction of the E-house. I could already imagine the kids freaking out about the absence of Fang and I. I sighed. Well, I had actually enjoyed sharing my alone time with Fang, so maybe we'd get another chance to talk like this in the near future. "Never mind. We'd better head back, I'll tell you later."

Fang nodded wordlessly and we took off, heading for our Flock.

**A/N: Reviews = updates! It'll only take you a second! ;) **


	3. Chapter 3

2

"MAAAAAAAAAAX! MAAAAAAAAA-oh yay, you're alive!" Nudge, my sweet motormouth, let out an audible sigh of relief. I gave her a one-armed hug as I gracefully landed on the front steps of our home, Fang right behind me.

"Nice to see that you guys got on well without me and Fang," I said, reaching over to ruffle Gazzy's hair. "Mornin', trooper."

Gazzy yawned. "Where were you guys?" He blinked up at me sleepily. "Nudge was ready to call the police, that's how freaked out she was."

We all laughed. "That'd be a tough one to explain, don't you think?" I said, tucking in my wings.

"But what were you doing?" Nudge persisted. "With Fang?"

Iggy snickered. "Do you really want to know?"

"Iggy!" I furiously lunged at him, but he nimbly dodged my advance. Oh yeah, Iggy's blind, but that doesn't stop him from being an expert chef/bomb-maker/comedian. Well, he thinks he's a comedian, but seeing as I'm at the brunt of a lot of his jokes...

"We were just flying around," Fang smoothly interjected, brushing past me. "Nothing much."

"Ooh, why didn't you invite me?" Nudge whined. "That must have been _so_ pretty, with the sunrise and all. Did you see the hawks again? Aren't they amazing? How early did you guys get up? Can I come with you next time?"

I inwardly groaned. See, _this_ is why I need some time to fly solo. I love Nudge and the other kids but sometimes it just gets overwhelming. I looked over at Fang with a pleading expression on my face. Fang instantly understood. "It was only this once, Nudge," he said, pausing in the doorway to his bedroom. "Max and I just happened to get up early." But he followed up this terse little speech with a significant look at me that said, _It is definitely not just gonna be this once._ And I'll admit my insides did a little jig when he did that.

"Aw," Nudge said, but she was quickly diverted by the appearance of Angel. "Angel! I fixed the TV and now we can finish watching the third season of American Idol!"

Angel drowsily rubbed her eyes, one hand still clutching her stuffed bear. "That's great, Nudge!" She looked up at me and beamed. "Morning, Max."

Okay, so before, when I said Angel was my baby, I didn't mean that _literally_ (like, ew, I'm _fourteen_-thank God we didn't stay in the School long enough for them to start wondering about mutant offspring). The thing is, Angel is six, and I've been taking care of her since she was really little, so I'm practically her mother.

"And I'm your baby!" Angel said, wrapping her thin arms around my stomach. Oops. Forgot to mention that Angel can read minds. No biggie. "I'm going to go change, Max, but you'll have to help me with my buttons," she said before going back into the room that she shared with Nudge. I swear six-years-old Angel is twenty times more mature than Gazzy at age eight, or even Iggy at age fourteen.

Iggy was puttering around in the kitchen, trying to find something to eat. "We're running low on cereal," he called over to me.

I sighed. "Like, how low?"

"If we don't go get food today, we're gonna be starving by tomorrow." Geez, thanks for that upbeat reminder of how our liveskinda _suck_.

I joined him in the kitchen. The refrigerator was pathetically empty-there was nothing but a few eggs, a carton of orange juice, a stale loaf of bread, and half a pack of bacon left-and the cupboard were in a similarly dismal state. "Wanna catch some rats?" I said, not anticipating the alternative.

"Ewwwwwwwww, no more rats, _please_," Nudge moaned as she flopped onto the faded couch in front of the TV.

"Fine. I'll go shopping."

"For clothes?" Nudge's brown eyes widened in excitement.

"For _food_. Honey, you really think we can afford _clothes_?"

A frown crossed her face. "Can't we just shoplift Walmart again?"

_You've done a great job teaching these kids morals, Max. _"Umm...do you _need_ anything?"

Uh oh. Bad question. Immediately Nudge's face lit up and she began going on and on about how she saw this adorable outfit on America's Next Top Model and how she figured she could get the same look with a cheap pink cardigan and a white tank top and a jean skirt and...

"Nice one," Iggy muttered to me as he began frying the bacon. I scowled.

Gazzy piped in. "Max, if Nudge can get new clothes, can Iggy and I get some stuff, too? We're running low on aerosol spray cans."

I had no idea what he was talking about but I bet I could guess. "Is this for making _explosives_?"

"Definitely not. Gazzy and I just need lots of hairspray to maintain our 'dos," Iggy sarcastically responded, putting the crispy bacon on a chipped blue plate and getting started with scrambling the eggs (does it seem weird that we eat eggs? Just a thought.)

"You guys get hairspray for _your_ hair? Oh my gosh, Max, that is sooo unfair because if anyone needs hairspray around here it's me." Nudge gestured helplessly to her wild mane of hair.

"Um..." I wondered if I should explain that Iggy was not being serious. "Well, Nudge, you are more than welcome to steal from the boys' stash of hair products."

"Hair products?" Fang reappeared from his sanctuary just as Iggy and Gazzy simultaneously let out sounds of protest. "With hair as great as mine?"

I rolled my eyes while Iggy laughed and gave Fang a fist bump. Boys. "Gazzy, can you set the table? Nudge, pour the orange juice."

"Okay!" Gazzy eagerly raced to the cabinets to get the plates and the sight made my heart swell. They were just great kids. Sometimes I'll bitch about my duties, but a lot of times being a leader is really fulfilling, pardon the cheesiness.

**A/N: Thank you for your reviews, they really make my day :-) I apologize for how these chapters kinda seem filler-ish so far, but we're getting somewhere (i.e. the shopping trip :o). Also, I managed to sneak in an eensy bit of Fax ;). Reviews = love = updates! **


	4. Chapter 4

3

After eating a meager breakfast of a few slices of bacon and a handful of scrambled eggs, I decided that a shopping trip was necessary. By 'shopping', of course, I meant 'scrounging around for stuff we could afford' or 'shoplifting' or 'digging through dumpsters'.

Jeb had left us about ten thousand dollars in cash, but keep in mind that he disappeared five years ago. And I mean, we mutants eat _a lot_. Flying burns calories like nothing else-plus, our metabolisms work at hyper-drive. We probably live on a four- or five-thousand calorie diet, yet I'm thin as a stick (no Weight Watchers crap for me!). So with the cost of food and everything...I generally try not to spend too much on other stuff. But kids are kids and kids want what they want, something I've never quite understood seeing as my entire childhood was spent in a cage and my only desires were for food and freedom. Unfortunately, the advent of the Internet and TV (provided for free thanks to some cool techy stuff we stole from the School when we broke out) has only fueled Gazzy and Nudge and Angel's desires for _things_, and I know they _try_ not to ask for much, but on the rare occasion when they do, I grit my teeth and freak out.

"Stop freaking out," Fang said quietly as we stood around impatiently waiting for Nudge to pick out some cheap clothes, Angel to pick out a cheap stuffed animal, and Gazzy and Iggy to pick out some cheap hairspray. Well, maybe I was the only one freaking out, since Fang seemed as chill as ever. Even though we were all wearing windbreakers and our wings were concealed, I'm über paranoid around people. And Walmart was _crowded_. Must be the crappy economy (take_ that_, Washington).

"I'm _not_ freaking out," I unconvincingly hissed at Fang, my foot tapping against the shopping cart.

He gave me a look that said, _Sure, sure_, and then casually stepped a little closer to me. "Kids are kids, Max. Sometimes you just gotta cave in."

"I _did_ cave in," I practically growled. I snapped my head around when a fat old lady rudely shoved by and I was opening my mouth to loudly tell her off when Fang nudged me and shook his head.

"You need to relax," he said, dark eyes fathomless as always. "Not everyone is out to get us."

A bark of laughter escaped me. "Guilty until proven otherwise, Fang."

"In America, it's _innocent until proven guilty_," Fang muttered as Gazzy rushed up to us with an armful of aerosol cans.

"Iggy's got some more," Gazzy breathlessly said before sprinting off again. I looked at the pile of cans and all I saw was money draining out of my jeans pocket. I groaned again.

Fang reassuringly put his hand on my arm. "We'll manage, Max. Just this once." He left his hand there and for some reason this made me nervous. Why? I didn't know. It was just...lately, I'd started to notice things about Fang. Like how he had transformed from a skinny beanpole who was shorter than me to a tall, well-built (like..._really_ well-built) teenage boy. Like how his brows furrowed in concentration whenever he was reading something on the laptop. Like how each time he smiled the world seemed a little brighter (yeah, yeah, cliché much?) But really...Fang was my best friend and my right-wing man but now...what's that expression? Like, I felt like I had butterflies in my stomach. Ugh.

As if able to read my mind, Fang cleared his throat and suddenly seemed a little unsure. "Max, I..."

Just then, there was a loud _boom!_ and people started to scream from the other side of the store. Fang and I automatically went into fight-or-flight mode. "You round up the Flock," I tersely said to him. "I'll figure out what the hell's going on." Because the only likely reason a random Walmart would be bombed was because we were there (we're _so_ special, ya know?).

He nodded back and we set off. "Angel's over there near the stuffed animals, I think," I yelled and pointed down an aisle. Fang turned to the right and began sprinting down that aisle. I continued heading to the center of the action while my mind reeled to all the possibilities-the School? New evil villains? Jeb? Gazzy/Iggy? (I swear, if it was Gazzy and/or Iggy...they would rather be dead when I was finished with them.)

"Nudge! Iggy!" I heard Fang calling. I put on more speed. Another _boom!_ and I began running into people who were running _away_ from the threat.

"Lady, get out of here!" A balding Walmart employee shouted at me as he sprinted by.

I shook my head-though I doubt he saw it-and concentrated on shoving the panicked people aside. _Move it, move it, _move it!

"Max!" Someone was calling my name. I whipped my head around. "Max!"

Just then, yet another _boom_, and this time I felt the blast. _Almost there_.

"Max!"

"What?" I shouted, but then I skidded to a stop.

The shelves on at least two aisles had collapsed outward, scattering their contents everywhere. I was treading on what appeared to be school supplies-like, packets of paper and pencils and calculators.

For some reason, that sent a chill up my spine. _School supplies..._

In the center of the mess were three large craters-presumably where the bombs had impacted. I glanced up to see three holes in the ceiling, with scattered bits of piping and insulation poking out.

And a manila envelope was neatly lying right where I could see it. How convenient. God, I knew this mess tied into me somehow. I'm a frickin' trouble magnet.

I carefully picked my way over and grabbed the envelope. 'MAX' was scrawled on the front in crude red letters.

When I flipped it over, the seal on the back nearly gave me a heart attack.

_The School. _

Of course, it was just then that another bomb decided to drop from the sky. Brilliant.

**A/N: Reading and reviewing will save puppies everywhere.**


	5. Chapter 5

4

My mouth was full of rubble when I finally managed to haul myself out of the Max-sized crater that I had formed. I felt like...

_Shiitake mushrooms._

"Oh, my God, I see her!" I heard a girl scream, but it sounded as though it was from a distance.

_Her? Who's her?_ I groggily thought.

A dark blur seemed to be getting closer and closer. Wait. Two dark blobs. My vision was playing tricks on me.

"Max? Are you okay?" Fang was shaking me, but everything seemed blurry and hazy, and my hearing seemed to be shot as well; Fang sounded like he was underwater.

"Max!" The rest of the Flock was gathering around me. Fang's jaw seemed to be clenched. _He must be worried._

"Of course he is. We all are. Max, you could've been blown apart!" Angel exclaimed, sounding like she was on the verge of tears.

"I think...I'm...tougher...than...that," I managed, but my tongue felt thick as molasses. _God, this is so embarrassing._

"She's in shock," Fang crisply said. "Better get her back."

"What about our stuff?" I heard someone-Nudge or Gazzy-say.

"Go grab whatever you were going to get," Fang instructed. "Iggy, watch over them. Grab some food. Evade the police. I'm leaving." With that, he swiftly picked me up, bridal style, and carried me out of the store.

I was too shaken to complain about this blatantly sexist action. I managed to woozily wrap my arms around his neck as he slipped out of the store and looked for a secluded place from where he could take off. I _did_ notice the sirens in the distance and the crowds of freaked-out shoppers, however, as well as Fang's very defined muscles...gah! Stop it, brain!

"Was it our fault?" I dizzily asked as Fang ran towards a clump of trees.

"Don't talk," Fang briefly said before snapping out his wings and taking off.

"Wait...envelope..." I remembered. A sense of urgency filled me. "Envelope?" I had to raise my voice in order to be heard over the rushing wind.

"What?" Fang glanced down. He frowned. "Where'd you get that envelope?"

It was still in my hand, my fingers digging into it. "With...bombs..." I tiredly said. "School."

For a moment Fang froze up and we dropped a foot or two before he remembered to flap. "The School?" he asked, his voice flat.

"Yep."

For a long moment he didn't speak. "Talk about it later," he finally said, and I wondered if he, like I, was thinking about his dream. I nodded in agreement and put my head against his chest. His arms automatically tightened around me and he rested his chin on my head. "You okay?" His voice was almost inaudible due to the wind and my temporary deafness.

I nodded, suddenly sleepy. I closed my eyes and went out like a light.

**A/N: Sorry for the exceptionally short chapter, but I couldn't really think of anything else to add (and I like to end my chapters naturally). Since I'm not an expert on explosions, I'm assuming that since Max is super-strong, she wouldn't be fatally affected by the bomb, but who knows =.= You know the drill...read and review for more of Fang's hotness! :) Also: mrlover you should totally come off anon because you are VERY astute... o_o**


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